ARC Book Review: Arcana Academy (Arcana Academy #1) by Elise Kova

July 22, 2025June 19, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 576 pages
Author: Elise Kova
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: July 22nd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling romantasy series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.

Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards-a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy.

Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy’s enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape-for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time.

In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be.

Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world-and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?

Thank you to Del Rey and Elise Kova for a gifted ARC.

ELISE KOVA DOES NOT MISS.

Did you know, I have read all of Elise Kova’s books? I am a major fan girl and I have been so excited for this new series and it absolutely delivered. This was one of the COOLEST magic systems!!! I loved all of the tarot cards and majors and how they all wove into the world. The houses and academy were an intriguing aspect I look forward to seeing more of in book two.

AND THE ROMANCE? THIS IS HOW YOU DO ENEMIES TO LOVERS. I have been begging for an enemies book with actual enemies and BLESS. I GOT IT. The building tension between Clara and Kaelis was exquisite. Thank heavens for a true slow burn as swell.

One thing I love about EK books is never knowing who is going to make it out alive. The ruthlessness of her game creates such a harrowing dynamic as the pages turn. But alongside that I love the deep friendships that are built and the trust communicated between characters too. The ending will send you into the stratosphere because I am always here for a cliffhanger.

There’s just so many nuanced things I loved about this book y’all. It’s a great place to start for Elise Kova (BUT DON’T FORGET TO READ AIR AWAKENS TOO).

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: moderate
Romance; 2-3 open door
Violence: moderate – high
Content warnings: loss of life, murder

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ARC Book Review: The Nightblood Prince by Molly X. Chang

July 20, 2025July 4, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Fantasy Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Molly X. Chang
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: July 1st, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two princes. One prophecy. A fate she cannot outrun.

The night Fei was born, a prophecy was made: she would one day become the Empress of All Empresses.

Torn from her family as a child and raised in the palace to one day marry the Crown Prince of the most powerful empire in the land, Fei has only ever known loneliness. When the opportunity arises to seize her own destiny for the first time in her life, Fei sets out to hunt a legendary tiger, knowing it might cost her everything. What she doesn’t expect is to fall under the mercy of Yexue, the beautiful runaway prince from a rival kingdom. Blessed by the night, harboring a dangerous magic, and capable of commanding an army of deadly vampires, Yexue could be the key to Fei gaining more than just her freedom.

But to outrun destiny, Fei must spark a wave of events that will change the world as she knows it. Torn between two princes and plagued by nightmares of bloodshed, she finds that the stars might be more inescapable—and more irresistible—than she ever considered before.

Thank you to Get Underlined for the gifted copy.

WHAT A STUNNER.

I am gob smacked by this book and could not put it down. As a known struggler with love triangles this reminded me that when it’s done right GOOOOOOD HEAVENS it is everything. I loved the push and pull back and forth between them. I honestly don’t know who I like more??? I felt for both of the guys??? Who even am I?!

And I adored the FMC, Fei. She is resilient and strong. I loved that she took the time to learn and also put the men in their places. There’s some highly coded Mulan moments woven in that had my attention in the best ways.

Oh, did I mention theirs VAMPIRES???? I didn’t know either (though the cover does give it away if you look closely). The brutality and savagery of the world and magic was such an interesting dynamic. I am feral to get my hands on book two. This is my second by by this author and they are quickly becoming a favorite.

Overall audience notes:

NA Fantasy Romance
Language: mild
Romance: one brief open door
Violence: high

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ALC Book Review: A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwan

June 29, 2025June 19, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 480 pages
Author: Stacey McEwan
Publisher: Saga Press
Release Date: July 1st, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This stunning slow-burn romantasy follows a fated pair who uncover a world-changing secret and are thrust into a violent class war, navigating love, loss, and devastating betrayals.

Nina Harrow and Patrick Colson are twelve years old when they are whisked away from the shadows of their disenfranchised mining towns to dazzling Belavere City to discover their magical potential. Those who pass Belavere’s test will become Artisans, wielders of powerful elemental magic destined to fulfill the city’s grand ambitions. For Nina, the Artisan School symbolizes a dream and an escape from her harsh reality, while Patrick yearns to return to his Craftsman family, whose extraordinary physical strength serves the idium mines keeping the city alive.

And then they uncover a devastating truth: Artisans aren’t born, they’re chosen. They part ways on very different paths, leaving them to carry the burden of this secret alone.

In the years that follow, a Craftsman revolution ignites, thrusting Nina and Patrick into opposing factions of a brewing war. Now an elite Artisan with the very rare talent for charming earth, Nina has turned her back on the fight, haunted by the loss of her found family. But fate intervenes when she is captured by Patrick’s rebel group. Despite the years and conflict that separates them, Patrick hasn’t forgotten Nina. He desperately seeks her help for a mission that could shift the tides against Belavere City. Reluctantly, she agrees, battling the sparks flying between them. But when Nina’s first love reappears, asking her to betray Patrick for the sake of the Artisans, Nina faces an impossible choice that could alter the fate of their world.

Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

OH SNAP. I LOVED THIS.

I never finished this author’s previous series because I just wasn’t attached to book one. But this book one? GIMMMMMMME MORE. This was a hit and I loved it.

I actually liked the age progression for this one. It was quick but gave just the right amount of background information to build the world and characters so well. I loved the connection between Nina and Patrick. It’s was complex and heated and I adored the TRUE slow burn push and pull. The man is down bad, and I LOVE DOWN BAD.

Stacey McEwan does such a great job of creating a world filled with secrets that I love seeing unveiled. Even the ones you know are coming are well crafted and the story telling is just on point. This book had a continual incline on the action and hard hitting moments. This was an amazing combination of romance and magic and politicking and twists and turns and all the things. I must have book two!!

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: 2-3ish open door
Violence: high

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ARC Book Review: The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom #1) by Rachel Gillig

May 20, 2025May 13, 2025 GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy + Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Rachel Gillig
Publisher: Orbit Books
Release Date: May 20th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From BookTok sensation and NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig, comes the next big romantasy phenomenon: a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a prophetess who is forced beyond the safety of her cloister on an impossible quest to defeat the gods with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight.

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she’d rather avoid Rodrick’s dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.

Thank you to Orbit Books for the gifted ARC and LibroFM for the audiobook.

OH WOW.

I loved the journey this book took. I admit it was a bit slow on the uptake for me but once the mystery started I was really invested. I love the way that Gillig writes and the torturous atmosphere created by the depths of the storytelling. It has the feeling of sitting in a medieval bar listening to a bard tell a tale.

The romance was filled with snarky banter and that slow burn vibe I often crave. I loved how the character arc for Sybil wove into the romance and how she grew to stand on her own. I love when characters take in new information and really DO something with it. There’s a lot of adventure with a traveling plot as the secrets of the cloister are ripped to shreds.

Honestly I could have seen this being an amazing standalone but I’m not upset that we get more books in this world. I loved the dark ambiance and characters. OH MY GOSH BARTHOLOMEW. I can’t forget about him. There’s seriously so many little aspects of this story that I can’t get out of my brain. The complicated craft of the world x magic system is like none other.

Overall audience notes: